The Wedding of the Year – Congratulations to Peter and Wendy Toms

By Margaret Sheard ….

In 2018 we were thrilled to hear that Peter Toms and Wendy Smith were going to be married and the date had been arranged for 18^th May 2019 on the beach at the Oasis Hotel and Restaurant, Dipkarpaz. 

In no time at all the happy event was upon us and on 17^th May we made our way to Dipkarpaz for the weekend to attend the wedding of our good friends.

There had been a lot of arrangements made over the period of time for the 100 guests who had been invited, including booking everyone who was staying for a night or two in the many local boutique hotels. The original plan was a wedding on the Oasis beach but there was a last minute change and the ceremony and reception was held inside the Oasis Restaurant.

On the evening of the 17^th there was a party for a couple of hours at the Oasis which was a nice time for people to get to know each other.  That evening it was extremely windy, and a bit suspect the following morning, so maybe that was the reason for the change of plan.

The day of the wedding dawned sunny, but still a little windy, but by mid-day it had calmed down and it was then beautifully warm and sunny.   The guests were milling around and chatting, mostly dressed in white as requested by the bride and groom.

The ceremony was timed for 1pm and the guests made their way into the restaurant ready for this very special occasion.  Wendy was given away by her son Jason who had travelled from Melbourne, Australia and her sister Penny was Matron of Honour. Peter’s brother Colin was Best Man.  As expected, Wendy looked stunning.

Keith Lloyd was to perform the ceremony and blessing and he soon had the guests hushed for the next 20 minutes.   Keith started by saying the remains of the church Ayios Philon, close to the Oasis, meant that they were possibly on previously consecrated ground so a very fitting place for this ceremony.  Following Keith’s introduction there were the marriage vows and the exchanging of rings, during which Wendy became quite tearful.  She said later it was most definitely the happiest moment of her life.

As a very experienced speaker with many illustrated talks given over the years,  Keith gave a brilliant introduction before the actual blessing, and after the vows and exchanging of rings, he gave some information about the origins of “tying the knot” and Peter and Wendy were then joined with a piece of ribbon as in the age old tradition.

We all then raised our glasses to Mr and Mrs Toms.

The reception started, with food coming to the tables and a lot of chatter going on as well as some background music.  Later Peter gave a speech, thanking everyone for coming, some of whom had travelled long distances to be there.  Peter’s son Merik had come from Malta, Wendy’s son Jason had travelled from Melbourne, Australia, her sister Penny from the UK, two other sons Tom and Bill from the UK.  Peter’s brother Colin and his wife D’reen with their carers Alison and Paul Cunnew also travelled from the UK.

There were thanks to Eddie and Maureen Hollely for their help with the arrangements over the previous months, and to Eddie who provided the disco the evening before and on the day and evening of the wedding.  He did a wonderful job. 

There were many thanks to various people, including ourselves, and also to Maşallah Erkan who has made the Oasis what it is today and is a very good friend of Peter and Wendy.   Wendy’s son Jason also gave a speech and said how pleased he was for Wendy and Peter on the occasion of their marriage.

Alison Cunnew, who is a carer for Peter’s brother and his wife, had come across an old photograph of Colin and Peter when they were children of about 3 years and 18 months old.  This had been enlarged and framed and was passed around for the guests to see.  A lovely picture showing Peter with blonde curly hair and a dress!   He said his parents thought he was a girl!!  

In came the cake which was very elaborate and Wendy managed to get the soft icing on her hands which she promptly transferred to Peter’s face, a hilarious moment for them both.   After the traditional cutting, the cake was then taken away to be cut and shared with the guests.  I must say it was delicious.

After the ceremony and reception, we decided to return to our hotel for a couple of hours before returning for the evening celebrations, which went on until about 11pm.  A long but very enjoyable and happy day.

We were very pleased with the accommodation Peter and Wendy had booked for us, Glaro Garden, and we spent quite some time over the weekend talking to Murat Cebi whose family own the hotel, which was built some 10 years ago.  It was built with sandstone and looks traditional and in keeping with the area with individual units which were spacious and nicely furnished, we were very comfortable.   We also met Murat’s father Hasan, his sister Leyla and one of his brothers Esat, who had with him an extremely large dog named Pasha.   A lovely family who were very welcoming and attentive.  We would certainly stay with them again. 

We arrived back in Ozankoy at around 3.30pm on Sunday, very tired but so pleased to have been able to have a weekend away and for such a wonderful occasion.  Thank you Peter and Wendy Toms for inviting us to be part of your special day. We thoroughly enjoyed it.

Here are some more photos of the happy day.

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